Principles of the Con and evaluation

Question 1

why did the framers introduce the seperation of powers?

Answer 1

due to th fear of tyranny (oppressive rule)

Question 2

what are checks and balances

Answer 2

the executive, congress and the judiciary can all check each other power

Question 3

Name 2 checks that the executive has on the legislative branch

Answer 3

the exec can propose laws

veto laws by congress

Question 4

2 checks the executive has on the judicial branch

Answer 4

appoints federal judges eg Trump nominating 3 judges including Amy Cody Barret

Can grant pardons to federal offenders

Question 5

2 checks that the legislative have on the executive

Answer 5

can override a president veto - a 2/3rds majority override from the senate and the house, them the bill becomes law over the presidents objections

can declare war - the last time they did this was ww2

Question 6

2 checks the legislative have over the judiciary

Answer 6

can impeach and remove judges - there have so far been 66 investigations into impeachement

Question 7

1 check the judiciary have over the executive

Answer 7

can declare executive actions unconstitutional - this makes the gov look bad so they will probably change it

Question 8

1 check the judiciary has over the legislative branch

Answer 8

can declare acts of congress unconstitutional

Question 9

what does bipartisanship mean

Answer 9

close cooperation between the two major parties to achieve desired political goals which may be crucial to political success

Question 10

why and how did the framers introduce bipartisanship

Answer 10

the seperation of powers and the corresponding checks and balances especially bewteen legislaturee and exec mean that parties mjust cooperate

laws could be passed, treaties ratified, appointments confirmed and budgets fixed only when two parties work together

EG George Bush worked with leading democrats such as Senator Edward Kennedy to achieve his education reforms in 2001-2

Question 11

what is a divided gov

Answer 11

when the presidency is controlled by one party and one or both houses of congress is controlled by the other party

Question 12

Is a bipartisan or divided gov more normal?

Answer 12

Divided - between 2021 and 1969, 36 of those years have been a divided gov

for only 15 years did one party control the presidency and both houses of congress eg Obama 2009-11 and Trump 2017-19

Question 13

Evidence to say a divided party makes a more effective government

Answer 13

bills are scrutinised more closely, treaties are checked more carefully and nominees are questioned more rigorously through the conformation process

Question 14

not having a divided government downfalls …?

Answer 14

less scrutiny of bills and treaties which leads to more mistakes and less effective legislation

Only twice in the last 50 years has congress overriden a veto of a president of its party

Question 15

evidence to say a divided party is a worse gov

Answer 15

party polariasation makes bipartisanship more difficult to achieve because of the ideological differences between the parties. It is challenging to come to a compromise

Question 16

an example of when a divided gov made a bipartisan agreement

Answer 16

The 98th Congress (1983-85) they passed 667 laws all together - George w bush’s republican gov

Making MartinLuther Kings birthday a federal holiday - which was of huge significance to USA’s history and civil rights

Question 17

Name a poorly performing congress

Answer 17

116th congress Donald trump (2019-21) only passed 344 laws, making it the least productive congress of the last 50 years

Question 18

An example of when a poorly perfroming divided congress made a bipartisan agreement and why was it important

Answer 18

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act 2020
This saw congress grant 2.2$ trillion of economic stimulus to the covid 19 falling US economy

The covic crisis put normal party agreements to a side and come up with an act that was going to help their American society and economy. It was very rare for a modern era

Question 19

what is federalism

Answer 19

a theory of government where political power is divided between a national government and state governments

Question 20

what did the framers want for federalism

Answer 20

to find a middle ground which avoided both extremes

Federal/ federalism is not found in the constitution at all, but instead it is implied

Question 21

what is a limited government

Answer 21

the federal government should be limited

The gov should only do what is essential and leave the fundamental rights and freedoms as untouched as possible for the people to live in a society

Question 22

where is federalism implied in the constitution

Answer 22

1 - enumerated powers (the federal gov powers)
2 - concurrent powers (powers that the gov and states share)
3 - implied powers (federal powers that can be implied from enumerated) eg the elastic clause
4 - the supreme court umpire and resolve any disagreements between state and federal gov

Question 23

how has federalism changed?

Answer 23

as American changes so does the concept of federalism

Question 24

occasions where federalism has changed to give more power to the federal gov

Answer 24

-1790s the population grew from under 4 million to 76 million by 1990 and then 322 million by 2016… it required a growing gov to manage them
- The great depression where many americans were unemployed and there wasn’t enough power in the states to help them so the federal gov got more power to heko and introduce more policies
- WW2 when the USA stepped out as a world superpower and the federal gov had to take on the full role as commander in chief

Question 25

what is dual federalism

Answer 25

Pre 1930s,
the state and federal governments were equal with distinct policy boundaries. The federal gov was limited to money, war and peace and supreme court ruling supported the state gov

‘Layered cake’ federalism - Morton Grodzins

Question 26

what is co-operative federalism

Answer 26

early 1930-60s
the federal gov power grew because of the great depression and WW2 under Roosevelt. the federal gov took direct responsibility in matters such as unemployment benefits and providing local schools.
Categorical grants

‘marble cake federalism’ because the distinctions between federal and state govs had been blurred

eg President Johsnon came into power in1963 and the federal gov was spending $10.6 billion a year and when he left they were spending $259 billion on welfare

Question 27

what are categorical grants

Answer 27

the federal gov specifies what you must spend the money on which shows the dominance of federal power

Question 28

what is new federalism

Answer 28

1960s-2000
an attempt to reduce federal power and give some back to the states
Supported by Nixon by cutting federal aids
Clinton - ‘era of big government is over’ boom time for the states
Still resembles cooperative federalism more than dual federalism
Block grants

Question 29

what are block grants

Answer 29

the federal gov says that the state can spend it on whatever the states want which gives more power to the states

Question 30

what is federalism in the 21st century like?

Answer 30

it has grown
Bush: gov spending grew by 33%in Iraq and education and hurricane katrina
Obama: obamacare and stimulus package

Question 31

what are the legal consequences to federalism

Answer 31

There is a very large variety in state laws eg age you can marry/drive ect.
Drug laws also vary
Federal laws and state laws which means there’s a possibility of being charged when you are in a different state and you forget the laws are different

Question 32

what are the consequences for elections because of federalism

Answer 32

elections are run differently in each state eg how candidates are chosen - the pres election is basically 50 different state based elections because of the electoral college
EG Arizona experimented with online voting whereas Oregon has moved to almost entirely postal ballot

Question 33

what was the USA Patriot Act 2001

Answer 33

Bush - it increased the government’s power to search phone records and foreign intelligance and allowed further detainment and deporting people suspected of terrorism-related acts